England finish with a flurry

ENGLAND captain Paul Collingwood was controversially run out in an error-strewn NatWest Series contest against India at The Oval. Debutant Luke Wright - Andrew Flintoff’s replacement for the penultimate match of the campaign - hit 50 and starred alongside centurion Owais Shah in a magnificent repair job as England posted 316 for six.

The action-packed innings culminated with an extraordinary final over, which saw Dimitri Mascarenhas hit the last five deliveries of the innings, sent down by Yuvraj Singh, for six.

England were in trouble at 137 for five after Kevin Pietersen perished to his second misjudgement of the innings in running between the wickets.

Collingwood was fourth out for the hosts in bizarre fashion when Pietersen called him for a single after hitting a delivery from Sourav Ganguly to cover, and immediately swished his bat in frustration as substitute Dinesh Karthik’s throw narrowly beat his partner’s lunge for the line.

Strictly speaking, he ought to have survived - because umpire Peter Hartley did not call for a television replay until after the Indian players and supporters celebrated after watching the incident on the big screen in the OCS Stand at the ground.

Displeasure

Third umpire Ian Gould confirmed the fate of Collingwood, who in turn voiced his displeasure to Hartley - standing in his first one-day international as an on-field umpire - for the manner of his departure.

Pietersen then sacrificed himself shortly after hitting his first half-century in one-day cricket this summer, when he belatedly called for two after working Yuvraj’s spin to deep cover.

Shah gave an early call of ’no’ as Pietersen turned and began the journey past his partner, who remained rooted to the spot, as Ganguly’s throw was gathered by Yuvraj at the bowler’s end.

But Shah did not let the incident affect him as he crashed 10 fours and two sixes in getting to his maiden international hundred in 91 balls.

He shared a 108-run stand with Wright, whose innings exploded after taking eight balls to get off the mark.

Wright’s second scoring stroke was a slog-swept six and he showed the dynamic qualities which propelled him to the top of the Twenty20 run chart this summer.

With Flintoff’s left ankle injury preventing his return and Ravi Bopara ruled out for four to six weeks with a dislocated thumb, Sussex’s Wright and Mascarenhas shared the all-rounder duties.